![Australian Indigenous (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) artwork by FATE SAVARI (ISAWDI) of Omie Artists. The title is Avinö’e ohu’o avin’ajivé - Design of the crescent moon and moonlight. [16-008] (Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth))](https://media.redotgallery.com/stockroom/gallery/a/artwork/f/avinöe-ohuo-avinajivé-design-of-the-crescent-moon-and-moonlight-4612-LARGE-2.webp)
FATE SAVARI (ISAWDI) (dec)
Avinö’e ohu’o avin’ajivé - Design of the crescent moon and moonlight16-008
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkcloth)
Avinö’e ohu’o avin’ajivé - Des… | 16-008
Natural Pigments on Nioge (Barkclot…
108 x 60cm | 42.52 x 23.62in (irregular)
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Fate has painted a very special work representing Avinö’e ohu’o avin’ajivé, the crescent moon and moonlight. This design originates from the ancestral Dahorurajé clan story as described by her family still living in the Dahorurajé clanlands close to the volcano, Huvaimo.
THE OLD WOMAN WHO HUNG THE SUN AND MOON FROM THE TREE [1]
A long time ago there lived an old woman who had a large bilum [2] (woven string-bag). She carried the Sun, Moon and stars inside her bilum. She would pull the Sun out from her bilum and hang it high in the branch of a tree to bring the daylight. She would clear the bush from around the tree and the tree fork, keeping the area very clean. At the end of the day she would get the Sun and put it back inside her bilum. She would then take the Moon out from her bilum and hang it on the same tree branch, bringing the night. She took all the stars out from her bilum and spread them across the sky.
One day a man saw the Sun. He started watching the Sun closely. As the Sun was rising, he followed it. He saw the old woman hanging the Sun and Moon and then hiding them inside her bilum. He said to himself, “Oh, that is what the old woman has been doing which brings the light and the darkness!”
The man went home to his village and told the story to all the people. He explained to them how the old woman was looking after the Sun, Moon and stars and how that was her work. Everyone in the village had thought she was working in her food garden each day, but really she was clearing the bush to make space for the Sun and Moon to be seen clearly and to shine brightly in the sky.
[1] © Lila Warrimou & Rex Warrimou (Sabïo); orally translated by Alban Sare; transcribed by Brennan King at Savodobehi village, 2010.
[2] In Ömie language, a large bilum is called a bojoy.
THE OLD WOMAN WHO HUNG THE SUN AND MOON FROM THE TREE [1]
A long time ago there lived an old woman who had a large bilum [2] (woven string-bag). She carried the Sun, Moon... Read More